


The Ghosts of Hogwarts

by Ewoo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:00:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22253035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ewoo/pseuds/Ewoo
Summary: All ghosts are dead.Seems fairly obvious, doesn't it? After all, that’s what a ghost is. A dead person. A shadow of a person, a pale imitation of life.
Kudos: 8





	The Ghosts of Hogwarts

All ghosts are dead.

Seems fairly obvious, doesn't it? After all, that’s what a ghost  _ is _ . A dead person. A shadow of a person, a pale imitation of life. Sir Nicholas claimed that he “ _ chose my feeble imitation of life instead _ ” when questioned on how it was to die. Is it a conscious choice? Ghosts cannot change their outlook and their knowledge remains at the level it had attained during life; O ld resentments and grudges (In the case of De Mimsy-Porpington, at having an incompletely severed neck) persist after several centuries.

All ghosts were Hogwarts students once.

That's understandable, isn't it? Only a witch or a wizard can become a ghost. So they must have gone to Hogwarts. Ghosts are said to be “ _either afraid of death or have some extraordinarily strong connection to the locations they haunt_ ” and this may be true, after all, what place is there a stronger connection to, than the place you grew up? Or perhaps even where you died. Some still are students.

Ravenclaw is the house with the most ghosts.

It makes sense, doesn't it? An experiment gone wrong, a jealous coworker, a greedy apprentice, detectives killed to protect the murderer. It is not an advertised fact. Most people don’t even notice, in fact most don't even know the ghosts are there. Moaning Myrtle hardly ever leaves her bathroom and Helena Ravenclaw only shows herself to the lonely outcasts such as Luna Lovegood, rarely seen, even by the other ghosts. These are two of the most famous ghosts of Hogwarts, and hardly anyone even knows they’re there. There are others of course. There is Miranda Spurt, a singer whose melodic voice echoes down empty corridors in the dead of night. Cassius Lynch, a lord who was poisoned by his nephew for his land and money. Another man stalks the hallways, muttering magichemical formulas under his breath. A woman sits and reads spectral copies of the books of Ravenclaw library to stave off the boredom of eternity.

Not all ghosts are adults.

It would be naive to assume so, especially with Myrtle Warren wandering the plumbing of the castle. There are at least fourteen child ghosts in Hogwarts. It was not as kind a place then as it is now. A brother and sister wander the dungeons, hand in hand, silvery blood down their frocks. There is a young boy, called Edward, who can be found most nights, sitting atop the astronomy tower staring up at the moon. A pregnant girl, appearing to be about fifteen, often rests in the hospital wing, a noose hung loosely around her neck while she talks to the girls there.

Hogwarts is cold.

Ghosts affect the environment around them. They turn flames blue, cause them to flicker and die out. The surrounding air drops significantly in temperature. Their presence can create great disturbances to water, and sometimes freezes it. Because of this, and the unease being with a ghost can bring, the living often subconsciously avoid ghosts completely. Most students use the Hogwarts library, instead of the Ravenclaw one, for this very reason.

Hogwarts is empty.


End file.
